ABC Says ‘Last Man Standing’ Cancellation Had Nothing To Do With Tim Allen Support For Donald Trump

ABC execs answer Last Man Standing Tim Allen, assuring him that the cancellation of the show has nothing to do with politics, including Allen’s support of President Donald Trump. Allen had insisted that his show was canceled suddenly and he thought it was backlash for his conservative viewpoints that didn’t fit in Hollywood, and were the target of a witch hunt. Even after Allen was told it was just that Last Man Standing was no longer cutting it, and there was no place on the schedule, Allen persisted. However, now ABC Entertainment chief Channing Dungey has released a statement saying that the cancellation of Last Man Standing wasn’t personal, but practical, and that Allen was a valued member of the ABC family.

However, the backlash that Allen is suffering is due to things he said after Last Man Standing was canceled by ABC and no other network picked it up (though Netflix has the full catalog minus the season which just ran). In anger, Tim Allen called Hollywood “Nazi Germany,” angering many people who did not equate the cancellation of a sitcom to millions of people being killed for their religious preferences or race. But Allen persisted with statements about being careful in Hollywood.

“You gotta be real careful around here. You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody else believes. This is like ’30 Germany.”

Many people were offended by the statements Allen made, including those who run the Anne Frank Center. The director of the Anne Frank Center released a message for Allen to rethink his position or at least his verbiage.

“Tim, have you lost your mind? No one in Hollywood today is subjecting you or anyone else to what the Nazis imposed on Jews in the 1930s — the world’s most evil program of dehumanization, imprisonment and mass brutality, implemented by an entire national government, as the prelude to the genocide of nearly an entire people.”

The surprise pull was a head scratcher, given that the blue-collar sitcom was ABC’s second most watched comedy in its most recent season, with 8.1 million viewers in Live +7, only behind flagship Modern Family.”

Dungey explained that the network is populated with those of varied points of view, many like Allen, and all are welcome, but Last Man Standing had a contract with ABC that had come to an end and at this time, there was no room on the schedule for the sitcom.

Dungey explained that ABC was looking for shows where people could connect, and for sitcoms, in particular, she wants people to laugh and perhaps escape.

“What people want to do now is connect and experience and to feel… that did frame a lot of our development thinking this season.”

Do you think Tim Allen’s politics played a role in the cancellation of Last Man Standing, or do you think it was perhaps the constant political messages delivered on the show by the character played by Tim Allen?